Transfer of a Lawyer to Prison to Serve 5-Year Sentence

Sources close to Mohammad Reza Faghihi reported that this lawyer was transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran on Tuesday, January 22, to serve a 5-year prison sentence. Mostafa Nili, a lawyer, confirmed the transfer of Mr. Faghihi to prison for the execution of the 5-year sentence on the social media platform 'X'. According to available information, Mr. Faghihi had informed some of his colleagues a day before his transfer to prison that he 'must appear at the Prosecutor's Office in Evin' on Tuesday for the execution of the sentence. Mohammad Reza Faghihi, a human rights lawyer, was sentenced to 5 years in prison for participating in a peaceful and legal gathering on October 12, 2022, aimed at supporting the rights of lawyers and condemning the detention of protesters following the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the Islamic Republic's morality police. The Islamic Republic arrested at least 44 lawyers simultaneously with the onset of nationwide protests in Iran on September 17, 2022, and later sentenced some of them to prison, disbarment, and other social restrictions. Among the arrested lawyers, Maryam Arvin, who had taken on the defense of detained protesters in Kerman Province and was arrested for this reason, died suspiciously a few days after her temporary release. The mother of this lawyer announced months later that the cause of her death was 'the connection of an IV' in prison. Furthermore, pressure on lawyers and legal professionals and the fabrication of cases against them by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran has intensified in recent years and continues. For instance, the Central Province Court of Appeals sentenced Behnam Nazadi, a lawyer and member of the Central Bar Association, to imprisonment and disqualification from practicing law on charges including 'spreading falsehoods' and 'disclosing confidential information'. Additionally, according to a report two days ago by VOA citing human rights sources, the judiciary of the Islamic Republic separately sentenced Taher Naqvi and Khosrow Alikordi, two lawyers in Tehran and Mashhad, to imprisonment and supplementary penalties. The transfer of Mohammad Najafi from prison to the hospital occurred after he showed signs of a stroke during a visit. The UN Special Rapporteur expressed concern about the health status of Taher Naqvi, a prisoner in Evin. Khosrow Alikordi was arrested; the transfer of this lawyer to an unknown location occurred. Users reacted to the deaths of Moghiseh and Razini: biased judgment and a statue of cruelty. The confirmation of prison sentences for 10 civil activists by the Tehran Court of Appeals. The Bar Association: the murder and suspicious death of at least 23 lawyers in six years.